GODLY HOPE: The Means to Emotional Health in Difficult Times
Romans 15:13 (NKJV) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
With the increasing difficulties that seem certain to be on the horizon for our country, and with an increasing hostility of the government toward believers who hold to a biblical worldview, HOPE is the new commodity. Without a true biblical hope that is energized by the Holy Spirit, we will be destined for despair, depression, and all sorts of mental and emotional angst. We must dig up this treasure and anchor ourselves firmly in its protective properties. If life were a roller coaster, then hope is the safety gear that straps the rider in, keeping them from being violently tossed around, or worse, thrown out.
The hope we are considering is not natural. Natural hope is too focused on getting immediate results and is easily discouraged by changing circumstances; thus, natural hope is fleeting and too quickly reneges on the false peace it promises. A bad news cycle or some minor disappointment comes our way and natural hope loses its footing, wreaking havoc on our fragile emotions. We have become a society of emotional weaklings, and many harmful addictions and unhealthy relationships are the result. This is observable in the younger generation of “snowflakes” who can’t take criticism or handle even the slightest difference of opinion from their own, but the previous generation is not exempt. The “snowflakes” had to learn from someone. Oh, for the emotional fortitude from a few generations ago that weathered the Great Depression and a couple of world wars.
What we really need is a different kind of hope. Our passage tells us that this hope comes from the “God of hope” and is worked in our lives by the “power of the Holy Spirit.” This language introduces a hope from another dimension outside of the natural, and we do not get it by positive thinking or using our will power, nor do we get if from counseling, self-help books, or any other natural devices. This hope comes from God and God alone, which means we must do business with Him to get it. As you tend to your emotional well-being do you look to the God of hope?
